
Class. 
Book. 



,!,+\iO 



COFimrGI{T DEPOSIK 



f 



Wt^t lanlr of Jf rosJt anb Jf ire 




1^ 



THE LAND OF 
FROST AND FIRE 



Author of 

"My Three Days In Gilead," 

"By The Overflowing Nile," and 

"The Crimson Trail." 



THE McCLURE COMPANY, Inc. 
Staunton, Va. 






Copyright, 191 Z^V 

Elmer U. Hoenshel 

Basic, Virginia. 



NOV -8 1917 



V 






who, with strong physical prowess, 
and in unostentatious manner, 
battled for nearly a century of tinae 
to provide for his own, is inscribed 
this little volume! 

THE AUTHOR. 



BOOKS 

By 

ELMER U. HOENSHEL 

•'My Three Days In Cilead" .Illustrated 

Cloth, 5o cts; paper, 30 cts. 

•'By The Overflowing Nile" Illustrated 

Cloth, ^5 cts; paper, 50 cts. 

"The Crimson Trail" Illustrated 

Cloth, $1.00. 

"The Land of Frost and Fire" Illustrated 

Cloth, 75 cts; paper, 50 cts. 



Jrtfar? 



In this volume I undertake to tell of what I saw in 
the **land of frost and fire." My tour will lead to a land 
not frequently visited by Americans, but nevertheless a 
land having many interesting features. In it I found 
many surprises awaiting me. And though the visit that I 
am to describe had in it much to annoy, yet it was full of 
experiences that I love to cherish in memory. 

If by following the narrative as I tell it the reader may 
be able to live for awhile in the environment of the early 
Vikings and to appreciate the present-day struggles of a 
people that dwell in perpetual gloom for eight months of 
the year, then I shall be happy, — for my book will have 
performed the mission in whose interest I send it forth. 
**Elra Oaks," Basic, Va. 



31l«atrattoita 



Frontispiece 

Bird-catching in the Faroes 

In the Faroes 

A Near View of Thorshavn 

Thorstadur Farm House 

Beautiful Falls at Seydisfjord 

A Church at Husavik 

A Herd of Horses 

Loading Horses into the Boat 

A Group: (1) Our Guide Arranging His Packs; (2) 

Mr. Walley, of England 
A Fisherman's Luck 
An Icelandic Farm 
Haymaking in Iceland 
Blonduos 
A Group: (1) Steaming Hot Springs; (2) Guide and 

Dog; (3) Partially Dried Up Lake 
A Group: (1) Loaded with Whale Meat; (2) Dranga 

Island; (3) Largest Tree seen by Author 
A Fair Virginian in Ordinary Icelandic Dress 
Icelandic Maiden, in Festive Attire 
A Common Experience While Travelling in Iceland. 
A Group: (1) On the Logberg; Thingvellir (2) 

Lake 
The Almannagja 
Hecla 

A Scene in Reykjavik 
West-mann Islands 



(HanUnts 



Chapter I. "On the Way— The Fa- 
roes" 11 

Chapter II. "The Land in General". 19 

Chapter III. "The Eastern Fjords" . . 29 

Chapter IV. "The Northern Fjords" . . 39 

Chapter V. "Preparing for an Over- 
land Trip" 48 

Chapter VI. "Across the Island" 56 

Chapter VII. "Second Day in the In- 
terior" 68 

Chapter VIII. "The Third and Fourth 

Day in the Interior". 75 

Chapter IX. "The Valley of Thing- 

vellir" 83 

Chapter X. "Last Day on Horseback" 92 

Chapter XI. "Reykjavik" 99 

Chapter XH. "Good-By" 105 



CHAPTER I 
On the Way — The Faroes 

Iceland! Possibly the very name has caused 
the reader to shudder and to think that a land 
bearing such a designation should be shunned by 
any one seeking a pleasure-ground. But, without 
anticipating any essential feature of my story, I 
may now say that to such a one there are in 
store a number of pleasant surprises. 

To see this land it was in my plan to make 
Leith, in Scotland, my starting-point. The date 
of my sailing was July 6, and this date was fixed 
and the fare paid several months in advance, 
even before my departure from America. The 
ship was scheduled to leave port at 11 :00 a.m. 

The morning set for my departure was filled 
with mist and gloom. And when I walked up 
the gang-plank of the Botnia, I was not pleased 
with the general appearance of the vessel that 
was to be m,y home for the greater part of a 
month. The crew had not yet finished coaling 
the boat, and the wet decks were filthy and un- 

11 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

inviting. But I found my cabin and my berth 
much to my liking, even though my cabin-mate 
Was a foreigner w<ho could not speak or under- 
stand a word of my language. 

The Botnia is a merchant-boat ; but it also does 
a passenger-service, carrying about seventy-five 
people in addition to the crew. But the fact that 
the boat does a freight-traffic is favorable to the 
tourist, as it gives him sufficient time at the ports 
for him to make short excursions inland — some- 
times as much as a half-day or mpre being given. 
The boat is 250 feet long and has a tonnage of 
only 1,206 tons; it is a small boat; and the 
smaller the boat, the bigger the sea — or at least, 
the bigger the effects of the sea. And since that 
northern ocean has a bad reputation I am half 
afraid and rather solicitous as to the trip. 

Most of the passengers are foreigners to me. 
The crew are Danes. But few Englishmen and 
only three or four Americans are in the company. 

We left port at 1 :40 p.m.; moving slowly out 
through the maze of docks and shipping; and, 
Teaching the open bay, we turned our prow north- 
ward and skirted the east coast of Scotland. The 
headlands and retiring firths present a constantly 

12 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

changing panorama of beauty and interest. Al- 
ready I note the late lingering twilight. To me 
the chief places of interest along this coast are 
the stacks, or needles, at Duncansby Head, and 
John O'Groat's House, the latter of which was 
for many years considered the most northerly 
habitation in Scotland. At present there are 
some houses still farther north. John O'Groat's 
house is in plain view from our boat; it is octag- 
onal in form — and a Scotchman on board the 
vessel said that the house was so built that it 
might provide a part for each of Mr. O'Groat's 
eight sons who were constantly in hostile mood 
toward each other. 

Having passed the northern point of Scotland 
in the night, the morning found us where we got 
the benefit of the full sweep of ocean winds and 
waves, and this made it very uncomfortable for 
me. Through the morning hours we passed the 
Orkney Islands, and while we were passing we 
found calmer seas. Beyond the Orkneys the 
voyage was quite rough, making my experiences 
the most miserable that I had as yet known at sea. 

On the second morning we reached the Fa- 
roes. TJiey looked picturesque in the early morn- 

13 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

ing light — at 2 :30 o'clock — and when we anchor- 
ed a little later at Thorshavn, I was anxious to 
go ashore. We had careful boatmen, who soon 
landed us in safety. 

These islands belong to Denmark. There are 
twenty-one of them, of which number seventeen 
are inhabited. The combined area is 514 square 
miles and the population is eleven thousand. The 
islands rise abruptly out of the water, and, since 
there is little or no tree growth, they present 
a desolate and forbidding aspect. Barley is the 
only cereal raised here. Peat and a poor grade 
of lignite coal constitute the chief fuel. 

Thorshavn, the largest town in the entire 
group of islands, has a population of about two 
thousand, and, to a southerner, is quite odd in 
appearance. The streets are crooked and almost 
without pavements; half of the houses are sod- 
covered, and on many of them is an excellent 
crop of grass — as good as I saw on any of their 
lawns. These houses are first roofed with a 
layer of birch bark, and then covered with sod. 
Many houses have modern roofs, chiefly of iron. 

Against the weather-boarding of a number 
of houses I saw mutton in the process of drying; 

14 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

It looked so black and hard that I thought that 
surely it could never be eaten — but later, in Ice- 
land, I saw such mutton served on the tables. 

Here I visited the peat fields, and v^as sur- 
prised to find this kind of fuel so far north; but 
later I found it much farther north. Another 
surprise w^as the hearing of a lark — at least the 
song was like the song of a lark. In the high 
school, vv^hich I visited, I found the headmaster 
very respectful, and his pupils courteous in the 
extreme — removing their hats and standing at 
proper distance writh uncovered heads while I 
was in the quadrangle. 

At this port codfish are caught in abundance. 
And when they are split open (usually the work 
of the women), and spread on the rocks and 
shed-roofs to dry, the shore about Thorshavn 
presents a white appearance as seen from the sea. 
It was thus when I visited the place. Bird- 
catching, in season, is also one of the chief in- 
dustries of the Faroese. Some fine buildings, 
fairly well stocked stores, and excellent telephone 
service are to be found in this town. 

In general, the people look healthy, but many 
have a careworn expression on their faces. Among 

15 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

the women I saw some who were passing fair. 
Everybody is courteous — even the children lifting 
their hats in greeting. The women wear lamb- 
skin slippers over which they wear wooden soles 
having heels. The temperature here was not 
colder than I had experienced earlier in the season 
in Scotland. 

Leaving Thorshavn about noon we proceeded 
through the narrow straits among the islands, 
which are sometimes so beautiful, and next 
stopped at Klaksvig for a couple of hours in the 
afternoon. At this port was the climax of in- 
teresting scenery in the Faroes. Then we passed 
on to the open sea. 

As we left the Faroes, a beautiful view of 
needles and a tunneled island was afforded us. 
At 8:30 o'clock next morning, we entered a 
heavy fog which lasted until 9:30 o'clock in the 
evening. Frequently the fog was so dense that 
the range of vision was limited to fifty yards, or 
less, in every direction. All day we moved slow- 
ly and cautiously on, the fog horn giving out con- 
tinually its notes of warning. Frequent soundings 
were made to determine depth and location. The 
latter is determined by having tallow on the end 

16 




Bird-catching in the Faroes 



I' 




In the Faroes 




A Near View of Thorshavn 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

of the plummet, so that when the plummet 
strikes the bottom of the sea sand will adhere 
to the tallow. This sand is taken to the captain 
who studies it in connection with his chart of 
the bottom of the sea, and by so doing is able to 
tell with accuracy the position of his boat. In 
the forenoon we heard the warning signal of 
another vessel that was plowing its way some- 
where in the sea-mist — it seemed like some great 
animal in distress. At two o'clock in the after- 
noon I saw a twenty-foot whale not more than, 
ten yards from our boat. At nearly four o'clock 
a whaling vessel suddenly appeared within our 
little mist-encircled world, like a phantom ship 
out of the clouds; after a short conversation was 
held by the captains it disappeared as mysteriously 
as it came. The sun tries to pierce the mist- 
laden atmosphere, but it rests like a pall over the 
sea; and slowly we move on into mystery. 
Thrice we make circles of small diameter, in 
the movement of our vessel, in order to be sure 
that our compass is not erring in its service. 
Later there came back an echo to our warning 
call, and then we knew that we were near land. 
It was evident that if the veil were to lift a 

17 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

beautiful panorama of southern Iceland would 
be ours. But it showed no signs of lifting. So 
the machinery^ of the vessel was stopped. And 
while we lay idly waiting for the fog to lift, 
some of the passengers played ring-toss, but the 
Faroese on board plied their life vocation — they 
began at once to fish; and notwithstanding the 
water was over a hundred feet deep they caught 
some large cod. 

But while we wait for the sky to clear, let us 
make a brief general study of the land at whose 
portal we lie waiting for nature's permission to 
enter, so that when we thread its fjords and 
tread its fields and fens we shall be on ground 
with which we are already familiar. 



18 



CHAPTER II 
The Land in General. 

The land on whose shore we wait hidden in 
sea-mist lies just on the edge of the Artie Circle, 
250 miles from Greenland and 600 miles from 
Norway. It belongs geographically to the west- 
ern hemisphere, but historically and politically 
to the eastern. Having an area of 39,200 square 
miles, it is nearly as large as Kentucky. Its en- 
tire population is scarcely over seventy thousand. 
Iceland is of volcanic origin ; its rocks are almost 
all igneous; and there are yet several active vol- 
canoes, the chief of which is Hecla, over five 
thousand feet high. Therefore, it is fittingly 
called a ''land of fire." In its elevations are 
presented many kinds of scenery and climatic 
conditions. Much of the island is perpetually 
covered with snow and ice — one jokul, the Vatna, 
having in itself an area of four thousand square 
miles. (A "jokul" is a mountain or high plateau 
that is never free from its ice covering). Hence 
this land is also fittingly called a "land of frost." 

The summers in Iceland are short, and warm 

19 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

considering the latitude ; the winters are long and 
cold, yet tempered somewhat by the Gulf Stream. 
For four months in the year the stars do not 
shine, and for four months the sun does not shine. 
Thus the year in Iceland may be thought of as 
one long day — four months light, four months 
night, four months twilight. 

Strange as the assertion may seem, it is said 
that two-thirds of the population are farmers. 
But since no cereal can be matured here because 
of the shortness of the season, the farmers devote 
themselves to the cultivation of short-season veg- 
etables and grass, and to the raising of stock. 
The horse, sheep, cow, dog, and cat are their do- 
mestic animals. Live-horses, wool, tallow, and 
fish-oil are the chief products and articles of 
export. 

Seven thousand men are engaged in the fisher- 
ies of the country. And the story of daring and 
privation of these fishermen in a single season 
would stir the hearts of the thousands in Ameri- 
ca who think their own struggle for a living a 
hard one. 

The only wild animal is the fox, and it is 
becoming rare. High in the interior a few 
reindeer may be found; but tourists seldom see 

20 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

them. Of birds the raven, the falcon, the ptar- 
migan, the curlew, and the eider-duck are the 
most noted. I saw not many ravens. The fal- 
cons to-daj^ are few; but it is the national-bird 
of Iceland, as is the eagle for America. At one 
time they were numerous here and were exported 
to the countries of southern Europe for the use 
of hunters in the chase, organized, or otherwise. 
The falcon is a bird of prey, like a large hawk 
in appearance and habits. It can be trained to 
soar aloft to sight game and then to swoop down 
quickly to catch and hold it for the hunter. 
'"Hawking," as it was called, was a favorite 
pastime a few centuries ago, in which the falcon 
took the place of trained dogs. 

As just stated, the falcon is the national em- 
blem, and its representation is seen on flags, and 
in devices over the doorways to public buildings, 
and is used extensively on pins and brooches. 

The curlew is a bird that interests at first ; 
but, because of its peculiar mocking cry, it becomes 
a menace to the peace of the traveler overland. 
The eider-duck is of a brownish-gray color, and its 
down, not plucked from the bird but gathered 
from its nest after the j^oung are hatched, is 
valuable in commerce. 

21 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

Upon returning from my tour in Iceland there 
were those who asked me if the island were not 
peopled with Eskimo! And some asked if they 
were not savages! Such questions as these fre- 
quently repeated cause me to know that informa- 
tion concerning this interesting land is very 
vague; and it is an inducement for me to put in 
print my knowledge gained in the land itself. 

That you may know the Icelander as seen 
and studied by men capable of expressing opinion, 
I quote from a paper by Prof. James Mavor, 
prepared in 1891 and read before the Philosoph- 
ical Society of Glasgow in that year: 

**The Icelanders are not wholly barbarous; 
on the contrar>^ they are supremely civilized. 
They are among the most expert horsemen, the 
best caligraphists, the best printers, the best 
archaeologists, the best makers of coffee in the 
world; and if these accomplishments were not 
enough, they are musical, learned, and courteous, 
and their moral tone is distinctly higher than 
that of any other people in Europe." 

This high moral plane is probably due not 
so much to careful religious training as to the 
'^absence of any desire for display and emulaticn, 

22 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

and to the prevailing simplicit}^ of life and the 
rudimentary development of luxury/' 

Their intimate family association — all mem- 
bers of the family ordinarily occupying the same 
bed-chamber, and even guests, at times, compelled 
by circumstances to share a place in the same 
room — would suggest to us shocking, if not im- 
moral conditions. But no such thought ever 
seems to enter the Icelander's mind. The women 
of the home take care of the guest with a modest 
simplicity that commands admiration and semi- 
reverence for the sex. In innocency and artless, 
open manner they seem like grown up children. 

It is said that one custom, known in primitive 
marriage lore as ^^hand-parting," yet prevails to 
an extent in Iceland. It is this: "A man and a 
woman contract to live together for a year. If 
at the end of the year, the parties agree thereto, 
they are married; if not, they separate without 
stigma on either side. The contract may be 
made conditionally binding from the first; it 
may bind the parties to marry in the event of 
issue, or in the event of no issue, as the case may 
be." 

For centuries the educational work was done 

23 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

almost exclusively by the ministry of the land, 
and in the interior it is so done to-day. But it is 
said that the public-school system is good; that 
not a child over ten years old can be found that 
cannot read, and that many of the peasants are 
proficient in the classic languages. There are a 
number of new^spapers printed in Iceland, in one 
of which I saw a unique way of printing a con- 
tinued story. At the bottom of the page was 
printed in nicely and carefully arranged and 
paged columns, on both sides of the sheet, the in- 
stallment of the story for that issue. By cutting 
out, and preserving each installment, until the 
story is finished, there is only need to fold and 
stitch the sheets together and the book is com- 
plete, except that it lacks a back. I had never seen 
such arrangement elsewhere. 

Yes, they are courteous to strangers and to 
each other to a degree that I have not seen ex- 
celled, if equaled, in any other land. And at no 
time in my experiences in Scandinavian countries 
did I see any one indicate a desire for a gratui- 
ty. (In southern Europe just the opposite is 
true.) 

I quote further from the paper already re- 

24 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

ferred to: "The Icelander is a creature pursued 
by frost and fire. His short summer is a time of 
incessant toil, and his long winter a period of 
shivering inaction. The gloom of the eight 
months of winter, the perpetual desolation of a 
vast part of the whole island, the frequent storms 
that make the life of a fisherman on the coast 
a series of campaigns in which the dead are many 
and the living few; the toilsome cultivation of 
sterile soil, the prevalence of disease due to ex- 
posure, these are reasons sufficiently potent to ac- 
count for the strain of subdued sadness in Ice- 
landic manners. It is no wonder that the Ice- 
lander is deficient in humor. Life to him is a 
tragedy — the comic element is crushed out in the 
stress of a hard-won and a hard-kept existence." 

It is said that the Icelander has but few games, 
and that until quite recently the children had no 
dolls or toys. You hear little hilarity about the 
hom,es or on the streets. But enough of this for 
the present; we shall know the people and their 
land better when I have finished my story. 

My sketch of the history of Iceland will be 
very brief. It was anciently known as Thule. 
In the eighth century the Culdees were in the 

25 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

land. In 866 A.D., a Norse Viking by the name 
of Raven Floke spent the winter there, a sort of 
prisoner behind ice-barriers; and it is said that he 
gave the land the name that it bears to-day. In 
874, Ingolf and Lief settled, or founded, Reyk- 
javik. Because of tyrannical measures by Harald 
Fairhair, king of Norvs^ay, many of his subjects 
emigrated to Iceland and joined Ingolf and Lief 
in their new settlement. Two hundred and fifty 
years after the founding of Reykjavik, Iceland 
had a population of fifty thousand people. 

The Althing was formed in 930 and lasted 
for several hundred years as the government 
of the land ; it met for two weeks every summer 
at Thingvellir. While it was in session laws 
were made, cases tried, and sentences executed. 
In the year 1,000, the Althing made Christian- 
ity the religion of Iceland. And with the lib- 
eration of the intellect there began to develop 
a literature. It was the age of the Sagas, 
(family legends and traditions) and of the Ed- 
das, (productions similar to the Sagas, but more 
poetical ) . 

T!he development of feuds and internecine 
strifes led to Iceland's becoming subject to 

26 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

Norway in 1264. In 1380, Norway with Ice- 
land became subject to Denmark, and remained 
so until 1814., In that year Norway went 
over to Sweden, but Iceland still remained 
subject to Denmark. In 1874, the thousandth 
anniversary of Iceland's history, the king of Den- 
mark attended their great celebration at Thing- 
vellir, and on that occasion granted the island 
complete home rule ; though she is still recognized 
as a Danish possession. 

The modern government is composed of a 
Governor and a Congress consisting of two 
chambers, or houses. Six members of Congress 
are appointed by the king of Denmark and thirty 
members are elected by the people. This Con- 
gress is to-day called by its ancient name, the 
Althing. 

Iceland has no army or munitions of war ; nor 
is any military service required of the people. 
It is said that in 1910 there were only ten police- 
men on the island; and that for a good part of 
the time there is not a prisoner in any jail. 

These people have taken advanced steps rela- 
tive to the liquor question. They saw how the 
strength of their people was failing through 

27 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

strong drink and they rose to meet the emergency. 
In September, 1908, they voted on the question 
of prohibition for Iceland with the following re- 
sult: For prohibition 4,645 votes were cast; 
against prohibition there were 3,181 votes. The 
measure carried with a majority of 1,464 votes. 
Then they passed a law prohibiting the importa- 
tion of intoxicants, such law to take effect on 
January 1, 1912, and prohibiting the sale after 
January 1, 1915. The following is quoted from 
their bill relative to ships doing business in her 
ports, — "All ships must have their liquors under 
seal from the time they are three miles from 
land, and the ships must not sell liquors to pas- 
sengers inside this limit.'' 

Of course, it is not new to the intelligent read- 
er that Iceland claims the honor of discovering 
our country about five hundred years before the 
visit of Columbus. And thus they teach their 
children. The records seem to be in favor of the 
'^children of the Vikings,'' so let them be happy 
in claiming this great honor. 



28 



CHAPTER III 

The Eastern Fjords. 

But to take up the story as left off at the 
dose of the first chapter. Our boat lay idle in 
the fog until after nine o'clock that evening. 
Then we began to see the dim outlines of moun- 
tains appearing through the dissipating mist. But 
it required some time before the captain could 
definitely locate us. When all had cleared we 
found ourselves near the coast, and that we had 
passed a little way beyond the mouth of the 
fjord that we wished to enter. 

While passing up the fjord I see for the first 
time a whaling station. But the object that 
I see anchored to a buoy and floating there is not 
a large row-boat bottomside up — it is a whale 
nearly or quite fifty feet in length. 

Eskifjord, the fjord that we are now entering, 
is my introduction to that peculiar feature of 
northern scenery known as fjords. A fjord (pro- 
nounced as though an *'i" were substituted for the 
''j" and then considered as one syllable), as I 

29 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

would describe it, after seeing scores in those high 
latitudes, is a land-locked bay, usually very nar- 
row and deep, many of them extending in angled 
or serpentine course far inland with high pre- 
cipitous walls of rock on either side. 

On this evening, when the fog lifted, a beau- 
tiful panorama of sea and land stretched out 
before us. The waters of the fjord were quiet 
and restful to us after rocking all day in our mist- 
draped "cradle of the deep." Here and there on 
the upward sloping land I could see a farm with 
some domestic animals browsing about in the 
open; higher up I saw snow. 

As the evening wore on a strange silence fell 
on the passengers, all of whom stood — just look- 
ing. I seemed to be all eyes and emotions as I 
stood on deck in the bright after-glow, at nearly 
eleven o'clock p.m., while we steadily pushed on 
into the quiet fjord which seemed sentineled by 
majestic mountains standing guard in quiet. It 
seems to me like a dream-visit to a dream-island, 
and the low-toned voices of those about me seem 
at times coming out of the shadowy past. I look 
upon the brown-ledged mountain walls with snow- 
patches in depressions, in some places even as low 

30 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

down as the water line. Numerous streams find 
their way down the slopes — some with steady 
flow, others in cascades and cataracts with splash- 
ing and foaming rebound. When the heights 
with their jagged skyline and snow-flecked sides 
were kissed by the lingering light of a day that 
here scarcely knows death, and the soft somber 
shadows took on lilac and roseate hues, it was 
like a bit of heaven, I think, lent to guide us 
into the port of the great home of light and 
peace. 

When we reached Eskifjord, the town at the 
head of the fjord of the same name, it was nearly 
midnight, although it was still light enough to 
read ordinary newspaper print. We anchored 
about two hundred yards from the shore, and 
while we lingered some of the passengers went for 
a little trip on land. The town has only about 
fifty houses, and they are strung along the water's 
edge. At a large building an auction, or general 
distribution of goods, was in progress — it pre- 
sented an interesting pantomimic sight as viewed 
from the boat. It seemed much like a shadow- 
graph performance, for all was quiet except a 
low murmur of voices at times. Near Eskifjord 

31 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

are the richest and best mines of Iceland Spar in 
the world. One of the joint owners of the mines 
brought some fine specimens of the spar on board 
and exhibited its peculiar property of double 
refraction; and since he joined our cruise at this 
point he took occasion to tell a few times of the 
worth of the mines, and referred with pride to 
his anticipated wealth when the mines would be 
fully developed. 

At 6 a.m. we left this port. The trip out of 
the fjord was scarcely less interesting than was 
the going in. On reaching the open sea we again 
encountered fog and had to make our way slowly 
northward along the coast until we reached the 
mouth of Seydisfjord, at the head of which was 
our next port of call, and which we reached at 
11 a.m. This fjord is about twelve miles long, 
the upper portion being quite out of sight of the 
sea. ''The rocks on one side of the fjord are 
like wild castellated ruins, on the other side the 
mountains are higher and are dotted with gla- 
ciers." About a quarter of a century ago an 
avalanche from impending crags cut the village 
in two. 

The town of Seydisfjord is said to rank fourth 

32 




Thorstadur Farm House 




Beautiful Falls at Seydisfjord 




A Church at Husavik 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

in size of the towns in Iceland. It has a popula- 
tion of about a thousand people. In it there are 
a splendid school building, a hospital, and a num- 
ber of up-to-date looking stores and homes. I 
was surprised to find so many frame houses in 
a land where there are no trees for timber or lum- 
ber. On our approach we noted an unusual 
display of national colors and emblems. Many 
flags were seen unfurled on buildings; and pro- 
vision for the hoisting of flags was seen on almost 
every house of note in the town. The people 
seemed very patriotic — proud of their 'land of 
frost and fire." 

On reaching the pier the captain told us that 
the vessel would not leave until five o'clock that 
evening. Several miles inland are the beautiful 
Skogafoss falls ; but as it is Sunday, I prefer not 
to make the trip, but rather to go to church and 
quietly to study the people and that wonderful en- 
vironment that largely made them what they are. 
So, in company with two Englishmen, I start to 
find the church. I pass around the head of the 
fjord, cross a dashing glacier-torrent, move on 
through the town by the fish-drying areas, and 
then follow a foot-path down the other side of 

33 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

the fjord, until, four miles from the boat, I 
find the village church. In passing through the 
town I noted the people. Many of the females 
are fairly pretty and dress with neatness. Usual- 
ly they wear their hair in long curls or braids 
down the back. Miany of them wear the lamb- 
skin shoes or slippers. The men wear similar foot- 
wear, but often over the slippers they wear low 
wooden shoes. Some of the men here wear knee- 
breeches with brass buttons. The tendency in 
color of hair is light — a sort of rusty yellow — 
though some have black hair. 

The three of us found the church, but in it 
were only two men — the preacher and the chor- 
ister, both in the choir loft. Later a woman came 
and left. Then the preacher left. The building 
in its exterior and interior would not be a dis- 
grace to any rural community in our country. 
It belongs to the Lutheran denomination. There 
is scarcely any other faith represented on the 
whole island. Finally the chorister came down 
to apologize; we couldn't understand what he 
said, but we knew what he meant. We wanted 
some kind of service, so we took him back to the 
choir loft and persuaded him to play and sing 

34 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

some of the music used in their services. We 
found it harder to get him, to stop than to get 
him to begin. But it was interesting to us. 

After singing a couple of English hymns for 
him we went down to the door of the church. 
The day was ideally beautiful. We heard a 
rushing roaring as of waterfalls somewhere 
near ; but we could not see them. Beautiful falls, 
five hundred or a thousand feet high could be 
seen across the fjord, but this sound did not come 
from them^ In trying to find the source of this 
nature-music coming out of the mountain-side 
we began climbing up the steep slope, picking 
our way over grassy swards where purple colum- 
bine, buttercups, and saxiphrage were blooming. 
Thus we continued for half an hour or so, and 
then we stood on the edge of a deep chasm in 
the side of the mountain, in which rushing and 
fighting its way down the fjord was a stream of 
medium size fed by the perpetual snow a little 
higher up. Selecting a strategic view-point from 
which three falls in the stream proper and two 
smaller ones in a tributary are in the range of 
my vision, I sit on the grass, pluck flowers, look, 

35 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

listen, meditate. And while I watch a beautiful 
rainbow spans the ever-ascending mist. 

It is warm; the temperature in the shade is 
70 degrees F. by the thermometer we have with 
us. Wild flowers about me! And this is Ice- 
land! 

As I sit under the noise of the roaring of 
these five falls, I think of that awful struggle 
in a death chamber, just nine years ago almost 
to the hour, when they said concerning my moth- 
er — **she is dead." And the thought induces 
anew a feeling of sadness and loneliness. But 
when I look upon the beautiful rainbow swinging 
radiant over the symbol of destruction it be- 
comes a messenger of cheer to me. Storms and 
stress may prevail in the world, but over all, and 
occasioned in part by them, hope, peace, and 
rest in the sweet after while are written in the 
iris-hued angel-path of the bow. 

Then we go a little farther up to the snow, 
where in good natured fashion we snowball each 
other and slide or skate over the hard crust, and 
then land almost in the midst of wild flowers! 
Then we return to the boat, where in the warm 
summer breath of that evening I put away my 

36 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

flowers, and enclose one in a letter with in- 
structions to place it, though withered, on the 
grave of her who was willing to go into the 
* Valley of the shadow'' that I might live. 

We left Seydisf jord at 7 p.m., two hours later 
than the expected hour for loosing from the 
pier. Alfter a pleasant sail of four hours we 
found ourselves at the mouth of Vopnafjord. 
It was 11 p.m. and the sun was just disappearing 
below the horizon. And just as the sun set the 
cloud obscuration was such as to present for 
some minutes the exact representation of a gold- 
en boat skimming along on the surface of the sea. 

The little tow'n of half a hundred houses is 
soon reached and then some of the passengers go 
ashore. But I prefer to remain on the boat to 
read and to watch the heavens until the sun 
should appear again — this it did at half-past one 
o'clock. The changing glory of the sea, land, 
and sky in those two and a half hours is beyond 
description. 

Across the fjord at this point the cliffs are 
very high and have large patches of snow on 
them. On these the after-glow kept playing in 
changing hues and tints until a purplish brown, 

37 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

or chocolate, was reached at the moment of 
deepest shadow (but still it was light enough for 
one to read fine print), and then changed again 
and again so subtly that the royal light of a new 
day was shining full on the snowy crests before 
I was aware of its sure approach. And the golden 
glory of the northern sky! Bare your heads and 
be silent, in this land of silences! A heavenly 
gold-dust fills the whole atmosphere! 

I am now ready to retire, but it is not to im- 
mediate sleep. 

Experiences such as these make one reverent. 
God is here. 



38 



CHAPTER IV 
The Northern Fjords. 

We weighed anchor at Vopnafjord at 7:00 
a. m. On reaching the sea we again encounter- 
ed a heavy fog that lasted until about 3 :00 p. m., 
and during that time we rounded the extreme 
northeastern part of Iceland and were for a short 
time within the Arctic Circle. But though so far 
north the temperature ranged at about seventy 
degrees Fahrenheit, and for a while stood at 
eighty degrees. The air was summer-like. At 
6:00 p. m., we reached Husavik, our next port 
of call, and here nearly all the passengers went 
ashore. 

Most of the houses at Husavik are modern 
in construction and some homes are surrounded 
with pretty lawns — now so green. And flowers 
abound. There were acres of yellow buttercups. 
I never saw a more luxuriant growth of rhu- 
barb anywhere. Currants were half-matured. 
Here was an excellent church with very fine 
exterior, and above the altar was an old painting 

39 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

of regarded merit. The telephone service was 
quite commendable. Caravans of horses were 
seen in the town, and some were coming from 
the interior, and still others were returning to 
the interior. Here were sunshiny children, 
rather somber looking men, and some attractive 
girls sitting on the porches or on the rich grass 
of the lawns in summer dress — presenting a 
scene not unlike what might be observed on a 
May evening in the Valley of Virginia — and yet 
it was on the northern shore of Iceland, within 
a few miles of the Arctic Circle. The fisher-folk 
were busy drying cod — the harvest of their 
labor at sea. 

We left Husavik at about 9.00 p. m., with a 
half-assurance from the captain that we might 
get a glimpse of the midnight sun if the weather 
conditions were favorable; but we were a few 
days too late in the season for us to see the sun 
at midnight. But as I shall go next month as 
far north of Iceland as Iceland is north of Lon- 
don, I feel sure of seeing the phenomena there 
that I missed seeing here. But still this night 
was by no means a disappointment to me— there 

40 




A Herd of Horses 




Loading Horses into the Boat 




Guide Arranging His Pack Mr. Walley, of England 




A Fisherman's Luck 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

was so much color-beauty, enhanced even by the 
clouds. 

Sometime in the early morning we tied to the 
excellent pier at Akuereyri. At all other ports, 
except Seydisfjord, we had to cast anchor and 
then go ashore in row-boats. Here we may 
walk down a gang-plank. And here we shall 
lie all day. 

This town is second in size of the towns of 
Iceland, having a population of nearly two thous- 
and people. In Akuereyri there are two or three 
fairly good streets, a fine hotel, splendid stores, 
and beautiful homes — a number of the houses 
having art-glass windows. When we went to 
secure the services of a telephone we found the 
equipment quite up to date — the offices even being 
supplied with a tape-recording machine. I note 
but little smoking among the men, and uniform 
courtesy prevails. The men on parting are some- 
times seen to kiss each other. Buttercups, violets, 
wild thyme, and asters are here in profuse abund- 
ance. The largest tree that I saw in the whole 
island is here; it is only about twenty feet high, 
and stands in the dooryard of one of the homes. 
The people of the town are quite proud of it. 

41 




The Land of Frost and Fire 

Modern manner of locomotion is also recognized 
here, for I saw one carriage and two bicycles. 

In the evening, I walked up a grassy ravine 
that was lined upon both sides with houses to 

where hay-making was 
in progress. The grass 
was short, but very 
dense in growth. It is 
what is called native 
grass, like our Ameri- 
can blue grass — it needs 
to be fertilized, but not 
resown. The scythe is of peculiar construction 
and is used in a vigorous downward stroke very 
unlike anything I have ever seen used in mowing. 
I did not try to use the scythe. 

Next I passed over to a field where a man was 
engaged in making meadow-land. Nearly all 
the arable land-surface of Iceland is covered 
with little hummocks of irregular shape and 
size. Tib mow such land is very tedious ; but they 
have been doing it for centuries. They literally 
shave these hummocks, for every blade of grass 
is valuable in Iceland. Some of them seem to 
think that there is an easier way to harvest the 

42 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

grass than by trimming and shaving the hummock- 
covered meadows; and so they are making the 
surface level. Where this man v^as working he 
had stripped off all his sod and had heaped it 
on piles at the side of his small plot ; then he had 
leveled down the hummocks, and had covered the 
surface with a layer of dead fish — fish that were 
too small for value in commerce, but had been 
caught in the nets along with the better fish. 
This covering was for fertilizer. Then he re- 
placed the sod. 

When I approached the man I had to walk 
over the fish-covered ground, and the stench was 
awful! Sea gulls were hovering about in great 
number, like flies near a carcass. To the sur- 
prise of the workman, I walked up to him, took 
his crude shovel and laid a wheelbarrow load 
of sod for him. When I returned the shovel 
he smiled, bowed, and quietly said, ''Tahk'' 
(thank you). 

Then I passed down to the town to go aboard 
the vessel. But before going to the boat it was 
a beautiful sight to watch the children playing 
with the wild-flowers that bloom so profusely 
here. They had their hands full of violets and 

43 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

had wreaths of wild thyme hanging over their 
shoulders or made into bracelets. One little 
girl on seeing my interest courteously removed 
a wild thyme bracelet from her dainty wrist and 
held it out smilingly to me as an offering. And 
when I took it she tripped gaily back to her asso- 
ciates. To-day I prize the little memento of 
her kindness above many other things whose in- 
trinsic values are far greater. 

Before we loosed from the pier over one hun- 
dred and fifty live horses had been loaded onto 
our boat and stabled in the hold. They were 
swung up one at a time to a point over the 
open hatchway and then lowered quickly to 
their place in the hold. Icelandic horses usu- 
ally are pretty; they are small, but somewhat 
larger than the Shetland pony. On our rough 
voyage back to Scotland the presence of these 
horses and the hundred more that were loaded at 
Reykjavik did not add any pleasure to our ex- 
periences. 

That night was most beautiful. The sun 
sank below the horizon at about twenty minutes 
of twelve o'clock, and the afterglow was most 
gorgeous, even lighting up the spray-drops caused 

44 



1 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

by the movement of our boat until they looked 
like little globes of amethyst. And I never 
before saw such blue in clouds — and such gold — 
and such cloud-shapes! The sun was below the 
horizon not more than an hour. 

Early on the following morning we stopped 
a few hours at Kolkuos, well up in Skag- 
affjord. At the mouth of this fjord is Dranga 
Island. This island is of interest because about 
700 years ago, as recorded in a Saga, an outlaw 
by the name of Grettir, a Samson in strength 
and daring, when fleeing from Iceland made it 
his home and held it for several years against 
the attacks of the government to take him. But 
he was finally .wercome. The island is very high 
and has a flat, gr?issy top with a; area of about 
a square mile. But the sides rise so abruptly 
from the sea that it is almost impossible to scale 
them. A great fissure which can be plainly seen 
from one viewpoint almost completely cuts the 
island in two. It is said that 80,000 birds are 
killed annually at this island. Near it is a pic- 
turesque rock chimney, or needle, rising many 
feet (maybe as many as a hundred feet), out 
of the sea. 

45 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

At Sauderkrok, a town of about seventy houses, 
just at the head of this same fjord, I went 
ashore at 1 1 :00 a. m. The "villa nova'' is the 
most beautiful home here, and its hostess is a 
queen in bearing and courtesy. She brought 
out eider-down for me to see, after I had mani- 
fested interest in the eider-ducks that were at 
this place. This seems to be quite a business 
town. The farmers are bringing in their wool; 
it must be carried on their little horses, but still 
the packs are large. The sacks are tied on the 
panniers with ropes that the natives have made 
out of the manes of their horses. Rings for 
harness are made from sheep's horns. They also 
utilize fish bones to good purpose. The farm- 
ers take whale-meat, flour, and other supplies 
for their long dreary winter back into the inte- 
rior in exchange for the wool. 

At Sauderkrok there is no grassy sward as 
at the other towns we have visited. The houses 
skirt the sandy, rocky shore. But I climb the 
heights just back of the village, rising one hun- 
dred feet or more above sea-level, where I found 
men at work in a cemetery. Approaching them 
I saw a coffin already in the grave that they were 

46 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

digging, and that they were digging besides the 
first corpse to make room for another to take 
his long rest on the hill above the site of his life- 
struggle to live. The view from this height — 
above the quiet fjord — is one of rare beauty. 
May the tenants of this, "God's acre," have rest 
from their labors! 

Weighing anchor at 3 :00 p. m., we pass around 
into the next fjord, by the wreck of the Laura, 
of this same steamship line, and stop at Skag- 
astrond for six hours. On leaving Skagastrond 
at 2:30 a. m., I am in high expectations, for it 
is only a little way to the next port and when we 
have reached it, then ''good-by" for a week to the 
Botniaj for I have planned to go across the island 
on horseback instead of going on around by boat. 



47 



CHAPTER V. 
Preparing for an Overland Trip 

In Sailing around Iceland one can see much 
of beauty and interest, but one can have but little 
knowledge of the interior of the island by staying 
on board the vessel, or even by going ashore at 
the coast towns and villages. So a number on 
board the Botnia planned to go into the interior 
by crossing the island; but all so doing did not 
leave the boat at the same port. 

I wanted to cross the island. I wanted to see 
the life and customs that are practically unchanged 
since the days of Grettir, Gisli, Sigmund, and the 
other heroes of the Sagas, But as there was no 
other way by which to go than on horseback I 
shrank from the undertaking. But an intelligent 
and companionable Englishman, Thomas Walley 
by name, was also especially anxious to go; and 
since he desired only one companion other than the 
guide, the arrangement appealed to me, and I soon 
found myself eagerly planning with him for the 
trip; and had our plans failed to materialize, as 

48 




i-i 



< 



mMiiiiit III! mill III nil mum iii i iniiiii luinii 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

did the plans of some, I would have been as bit- 
terly disappointed as he, even though such fail- 
ure to go would have meant deliverance from 
much suffering that was to come. Our minds 
were definitely made up when we reached Akue- 
reyri. At that place, with some help from in- 
terpreters, we had succeeded in getting reply to a 
telephone message sent on to Blonduos. We had 
sent word for a guide to meet us at the landing 
with six horses, ready for a trip across Iceland to 
Reykjavik. The answer had come back that we 
would be met by a trusty guide, in whom we could 
place every confidence — but one who could not 
speak a w^rd of English. It was not to our lik- 
ing, but since now it was this or no overland trip, 
we had sent word back that everything should be 
in readiness for us at the arrival of the boat. 

We thought we could reach the landing-place 
by midnight, but we were late; and the hour of 
our arrival being uncertain, we did not retire. 
So the night passed without our getting any sleep. 
Later, we hoped we would not reach port until 
after breakfast, for we knew that on the boat 
we should fare well — yonder in the little village 
of Blonduos was uncertainty as to a palatable 

49 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

meal. But at five o'clock in the morning we 
reached the place of anchoring, and then we had 
to leave the vessel. Not expecting to find En- 
glish-speaking people here, we asked the resi- 
dent German Consul of Iceland, a native of the 
island, and who himself was a passenger on the 
boat, to accompany us ashore and to give our 
guide all the instructions that we had to offer. 
This gentleman was glad to go and help us; and 
he prepared to accompany us with manifest cour- 
tesy and kindness of manner. Then we said 
good-by to our friends on the Botnia^ hoping to 
see them a week later at Reykjavik. 

The name of the consul was Thomsen. And 
here I digress to call attention to the peculiarity 
of Icelandic names. The children do not take the 
family name of their parents, but the Christian 
name of the father becomes the surname of the 
child. To illustrate: Our overland guide's 
name was Pall Jansson (Paul Johnson) ; this 
meant that his own name was Paul, that he was 
John's son, therefore, Paul John's son (Pall 
Jansson) . Further, had he a brother by the name 
of Eric, that brother's full name would be Eric 
John's son (Eric Johnson). And had he a sister 

50 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

whose name was Helga, her full name would be 
Helga John's daughter (Helga Jansdottir). And 
had he himself a son whose first name was Lief, 
his full name would be Lief Paul's son (Lief 
Pallsson). 

And so it happened when I wrote down the 
name of the consul as I was accustomed to spell 
the name, he, looking over my shoulder, pointed 
to the last syllable and said, *^Spell it s-e-n/' I 
said, **Why?" He answered, *'My name is 
Thomsen; I am not Thomas son!' And then 
I understood. 

When our little boat reached the shore no 
one in the village was stirring, except two or 
three persons who were waiting on the pebbly 
beach to take care of any freight that might be 
landed. We had left behind all unnecessary lug- 
gage, so needed no helpers. In company with 
Mr. Thomsen, the consul already referred to, 
we walked up the sandy slope and into the little 
village. After winding around through a few 
alleyways and back yards, we fronted a fine res- 
idence with shell-bordered walk leading to the 
front porch and having flower beds on both sides 
of it. Here lived the man who had phoned to 

51 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

us about our trip — so said the interpreter. Then 
we all tried to wake the occupants, but failed. 
The consul left us to attend to some business 
on the other side of the Blanda, a river of consid- 
erable size, flowing into the fjord at this place. 

Mr. Walley and I watched the house alter- 
nately and simultaneously, now and again knock- 
ing to get recognition. Then as the morning 
wore on th^ thought of a good breakfast caused 
us to make a search for food. But nothing could 
be found until about eight o'clock, when a man 
half opened his store — he was not open for bus- 
iness, but I went in. I could find nothing to 
eat, except some stale sugar cakes — not fit to 
eat. We gave up the search. 

And just about that time our sound sleeper 
awoke. And though he had arranged for our 
trip he could not talk English. But our inter- 
preter has returned. After holding a short con- 
versation with this man, he tells us that the guide 
has been engaged for our service, that he lives a 
few miles inland, and that he was in the village 
the evening before to make inquiry concerning 
the arrival of the boat ; and that all we could now 
do was to wait. But we had already been in port 

52 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

three hours, and we did not know how soon the 
boat would call our interpreter from us. But at 
that moment a man came down the hill-path 
leading to the village riding like Jehu. His horse 
stopped suddenly and he was off like an auto- 
maton and stood before us looking interest. Yes, 
it was our guide — a man about thirty years of 
age, five feet and ten inches tall, and well propor- 
tioned physically. His face was red, but pleas- 
ing, giving assurance of honesty and good-will. 

Through the consul we quickly came to an un- 
derstanding. Our guide was to furnish six horses 
(but for emergency he said he'd take along an 
extra horse at his own expense) ; he was to take 
us over the route that we had designated; he 
was to show us things of special interest along 
the way; he was to secure lodging and food for 
us; and he was to make the trip in such time as 
to reach Reykjavik a day or two before the sched- 
uled time for the departure of the Botnia for 
Scotland. 

He soon agreed to all this, shaking his head at 
some of the things that we wanted to do, and 
which later we were glad to eliminate from our 
list of things to be seen. It was agreed to that 

53 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

we should pay him six kroner a day for his ser- 
vices, and two kroner a day for each of the six 
horses, making our obligation to him eighteen 
kroner (about $5.00) a day. And we were to 
pay him at the same rate for his return, which he 
estimated would require about two days less time 
than the outward trip. We were to pay for our 
lodging and food; he was to provide food and 
lodging for himself and horses. 

TJien I had a request to make. I said to Mr. 
Thomsen, "Tell the man that I want an easy- 
going horse, and I want a comfortable saddle, 
and I want him to put a sheepskin on my saddle, 
and / want the woolly side up!" He agreed to 
it, and smiled. Then all having been arranged 
for, as we thought, the consul gave us an inter- 
ested good-by, hoping that we would enjoy our 
trip through the land that meant home to him, 
and after a cordial inviation to call upon him 
in Reykjavik, and some further admonition to 
the guide, he returned to the boat whose warn- 
ing signal for departure had already been given. 

Our guide sprang to his beast and was away 
like a flash to get the horses that were being 
"rounded up" in his absence. In half an hour he 

54 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

returned with his herd, about twenty horses, 
running loose, and being driven by his assistant 
and his dog. In a little while he had picked out 
seven horses, saddled the three that we should 
ride first, collected our little amount of lug- 
gage and tied it on another horse; and then he 
chose each horse for its particular rider. 

Then, in the saddle, he thought of a possible 
need upon our part for whips — ^he already had 
one, a typical Icelandic whip — one with short 
stock richly ferruled and with long strap and 
lash. He went into a store and bought a long 
rattan reed, cut it into two, and gave each of us 
a half. My whip did good service for the entire 
trip, and now, still in my possession, it serves 
to recall with vividness some of my experiences 
in that far-away island. 

All is ready. The four riderless horses are 
separated from the rest of the herd, and without 
bridle run ahead of us, kept in the chosen route 
by guide and dog. Thus at length, after a sleep- 
less night and a breakfastless morning, we, astride 
little Icelandic horses turned our backs upon the 
sea and faced the interior to experience — we 
knew not what. 

55 



CHAPTER VI. 
Across the Island 

It was at 8 :45 o'clock that the signal of read- 
iness was given. With a little help our guide, 
Mr. Pall Jansson, of San Lanesi Farm, Blonduos, 
succeeded in getting the four horses that for the 
time being were to be without rider, but which lat- 
er were to serve their turn as burden-bearers, sep- 
arated from the rest of the herd, and started on 
the path leading to the south. In this first work, 
and all through the trip, his dog was an important 
member of our party. 

The Icelandic dog is the farmer's best friend, 
almost having human sagacity. It is of medium 
size, with a heavy coat of clean hair, and gentle, 
pleading brown eyes. He seems instinctively to 
know his master's will, and thus is of incalcula- 
ble service to him in caring for his sheep, herding 
his cattle, and driving his horses. On this trip 
our dog never for a moment lost his alertness. 
He kept the path or way cleared of all stray ani- 
mals by racing ahead and chasing them to the 

56 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

right or left over rugged hummocks or rocky 
wastes for a quarter of a mile or more, and then 
he would come back immediately to help our 
guide in caring for the horses that were running 
loose before us. 

Mr. Walley and I are both in high spirits, and 
we feel a sense of pride in our cavalcade, com- 
posed of seven horses, a dog, a guide, and our- 
selves. Though our guide could not talk with 
us except by signs, we felt that we would find 
each other companionable. But in very few 
places could we ride side by side, and a good part 
of the time we were so far separated from each 
other that conversation, except at very infrequent 
intervals, was scarcely possible. Mr. Walley 
left it to me to get desired information from, 
and to give additional direction to our guide, at 
times no great pleasure to me, accommodating, 
courteous, and anxious as he was at all times. 

And so we started, with barking of dog, and 
shouting of guide and temporary assistants. 
When we reached the elevation above the fjord 
shore a curlew, with a joyful cry, welcomed us. 
Its song consisted of a '' kirriwirriwirri* trill, a 
series of distinct notes, rather shrill in quality, 

57 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

and varying in pitch. The curlew is a bird, or 
fowl, considerably larger than a dove, and has a 
long neck, and a long hooked bill. 

The curlew that gave us greeting on this morn- 
ing would sit on a rock or hummock until we 
would come near to it, or if at times it happened 
to be a few yards from our path it would wait 
until we had passed, and then it would rise on 
wing and swoop down near us and on to another 
hummock or rock fifty or seventy-five yards ahead, 
giving that chattering '' kirriwi'hriwtrri' song of 
greeting. At first it seemed half musical, and it 
was interesting to watch the dog at times turn 
from the horses to give chase to the curlew. La- 
ter in the day the song seemed like mockery, and 
the fact that the dog could not catch the bird 
was exasperating to us. Not only this day, but 
almost throughout the entire trip there was at 
least one curlew at a time following. I do not 
know, but perhaps in their bird councils it has 
been planned that each one must do duty over 
one's own section, or beat, and thus see to it that 
the overland tourist of Iceland shall never get 
lonely ! 

The way is only a path, but for the first ten 

58 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

miles or so of the trip there is a rather excellent 
roadbed for carriages; but there are as yet no 
carriages in northern Iceland, save two or three 
to do a little service in the immediate environs 
of a coast tow^n or tw^o. So, when noting the 
telephone poles in the far interior, the furniture 
of the homes, the lumber used in the houses, and 
knowing that all this was brought from the coast 
towns by these little horses, I feel much inter- 
ested in them. They carry their master on their 
back where other horses could scarcely go; they 
carry his produce to the coast and bring back 
from the sea his provisions and other supplies; 
and they give their master his last ride when in- 
cased in his rude cofBn, he lies across the back 
of one of his horses, supported by a man on either 
side — a ride out amid the sighs and tears of his 
loved ones ; a ride to the quiet, windowless palace 
of those who come not back again. 

One of the first sights of interest on the trip 
were the fishers at Salmon River. Here were 
a number of salmon just pulled from the stream 
that were at least two feet long. We met one 
of the happy fishermen on his horse with the fruits 
of his labor across his shoulder. He seemed proud 

59 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

that we should want his picture, not knowing 
that it was the fish, and not he, that especially 
appealed to us. 

A menace to all tourists in Iceland are its un- 
bridged streams. These are numerous, usually 
swift-flowing, and, being glacier-fed, are subject 
to sudden rise on a bright, sun-shiny day. In 
many places quicksands are to be found in the 
river-courses ; so it is strongly urged that no one 
unacquainted with the country undertake a trip 
through it without a competent guide. On this 
day we forded six rivers, in three of which I got 
my feet wet, and in one of which my horse 
stumbled on the rocky bottom and came near 
precipitating me headlong into the stream. As it 
was, I simply measured the water while still 
astride my horse and while he was with difficulty 
recovering himself. My clothes were wet and my 
shoes were filled with water. I did not mind it 
much in the middle of the day, but when the chill 
of that evening fell there came with it a numb- 
ness and coldness and cramps that resulted in 
extreme discomfort and misery. 

In one place we rode for a mile or two through 
a region of lava and black sand-heaps where 

60 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

evidently at one time was an active volcano. 
Lakes, mountains, brown, bleak, and far-stretch- 
ing moorlands, and marshes in turn, or simulta- 
neously, gave variety to the landscape. 

At intervals of every two or three hours, on 
reaching a grassy spot, a halt would be called, 
that our horses might *^pick'' for a few minutes; 
and this picking was all the food that the ani- 
mals got while on the trip. I understand that 
they feed no grain on this island. I know that 
they raise none. On dismounting, the reins were 
thrown down over and in front of the horses' 
heads, and they had been trained to consider 
themselves hitched when the reins were hanging 
thus. There is very little opportunity to hitch 
a horse in Iceland. Seldom are trees found, and 
there are no fences except the sod walls about the 
cluster of buildings at each farm. So the people 
resort to other ways of hitching. If a horse is 
inclined to wander away when left alone, one 
way of hitching him is to place him alongside 
of another horse, but facing the opposite direc- 
tion ; then they are hitched to the crupper of each 
other's saddle. Thus hitched, it is almost im- 
possible to have a runaway, for neither one can 

61 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

run while the other has to go backward. At 
night they tie the two front feet of a horse tight 
together, if they want to find him quickly in the 
morning. And such treatment does not seem to 
interfere in the least with the serviceableness of 
the horse. He is ready next day for fifty or 
seventy miles of travel, and thus for several days 
in succession. 

We passed a number of sod houses and a few 
sod villages, but did not stop. We had no lunch, 
therefore did not need to take time to eat. With- 
out sleep the night before and with no food for the , 
day, the ride grew in bitter experience as the day 
advanced, so that when the thirteen and a-half 
hours had ended I could say, without need of any 
qualification, that it was an awful ride. 

Not a bush or a tree did we see, and no song- 
bird was anywhere to cheer us. But flowers were 
everywhere, even in the clefts of rocks, and in 
many places there was a rank growth of grass. 
In only a few places did we see snow on our 
first day, and what we saw was high up in depres- 
sions on some of the mountain ranges. Pestifer- 
ous flies swarmed about us at times with an affec- 
tionate clinging that was irritating in the extreme. 

62 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

About the middle of the afternoon our guide 
noticed that two of the horses had lost shoes, so 
he called a halt at a sod house, and, securing aid, 
proceeded to place shoes where needed. (A guide 
must always carry horseshoes with him). 

While he was thus engaged, my friend and I 
tried to get off our horses — a difficult thing to do 
without falling. Then, stumbling to a couple of 
hummocks, we sat down and held a council of 
misery. Said I : ^'Mr Walley, twice in my life 
I have been very foolish; but I want you to 
record a resolution that I now make: If ever 
I get to the end of this trip there will be no long 
horseback ride again for me!'' And then he 
made confession. Said he: **In England I 
often ride for an hour or two, and enjoy it; but 
this, ah, this ride! I am on the verge of tears! 
I fear a nervous prostration!" Then he told me 
that he had not been on horseback since he had 
had a surgical operation performed in which 
a bone had been removed from his knee. And 
then I feared for him — and also for myself. 
We are now only midway in the first day, and 
four more days like unto it are to follow, if we 
survive ! 

63 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

We had lost no time in our riding. Our guide 
was in a hurry, but fast riding was a punishment 
to us. I couldnt keep up with him, and Mr. 
Walley just wouldnt make his horse go, but 
followed **afar off," satisfied simply to keep in 
sight of us. 

But we must not linger in description of the 
last few hours of this day; the very thought is 
painful to me. Suffice it to say that at 10:15 
p. m. I saw our guide, far ahead of us, stop, 
turn about, and ride slowly back to meet me. 
He tried to tell me that we must hurry forward 
to ferry the head of a fjord in order to find 
lodging for the night. We were then at the sod 
wall of a farmhouse. When Mr. Walley came 
up, we together decided that we would go no 
farther, if only these people would take us in. 
By signs and leadings I made known our decis- 
ion to our guide. He at first shook his head, 
but finally led us to the front of the sod house, 
above the door of which, on a wooden lintel, 
was the word **Thorstadur" — it was the name of 
the farm. And there we stood face to face with 
a woman of about fifty years and an attractive 
girl of about twenty years, both straight and 

64 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

dignified in bearing and wearing hufas. They 
listened to our plea. We were led through a 
passageway between walls of sod about five feet 
high, on which hung saddles and bridles. Soon 
we reached a passage crossing this one at right 
angles. To turn to the left would probably be to 
enter the kitchen; to go straight forward we 
would find the living-room and "bad-stofa/* or 
bedroom, combined. We turn to the right, pass 
a ^.ittle sod-walled room, and then enter the 
special guest-chamber that the exterior of the 
house would never suggest as present here. 

This room had a wooden floor, curtains at the 
windows, pictures on the walls, chairs, narrow 
bed, center-table and books and was quite cozy, 
indeed. The ladies retired from the room and 
the guide went to hobble his horses for the night. 
Left alone, I began to remove shoes and socks, 
that I might change to drier footwear. When 
midway in making the change the young lady 
came in, without knocking, to set the table for 
supper ! It was an embarrassing moment for me, 
but she was too modest even to note the cause of 
my embarrassment. I hid my feet as best I could 
under my chair during this visit of hers, and 

65 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

when next she came in I was ready to give her 
my shoes and socks to take to the fire that I 
knew was somewhere about the place, to be 
dried. They were returned to me next morning 
in good condition. 

Formerly in Iceland guests and family occu- 
pied the same sleeping apartment, and I under- 
stand that in many parts of the island the same 
practice is necessitated even today. But at no 
place where we stopped did we find such condi- 
tions obtaining. And for this I was thankful. 

The table this evening, or night, was set with 
clean linen, cutlery, and dishes, and, to our sur- 
prise, the food was plentiful in quantity and vari- 
ety, and was quite palatable. It consisted of 
white and black bread, fresh eggs, milk, bologna, 
sardines, fresh salmon, dried mutton, butter, 
cheese, sweet cakes, and coffee — a most delicious 
and satisfying meal after our long, almost un- 
broken fast of about thirty hours. We ate by 
the light of the afterglow at about eleven o'clock, 
no other light being necessary. 

My friend had insisted on carrying his cap 
in his pocket all day instead of wearing it, and 
the sun and wind had so tanned his face that his 

66 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

complexion now was quite ruddy, and the skin 
had begun to scale off and his lips were cracked 
and bleeding. We were too wearied to want 
to talk, so sat dozing while our beds were being 
supplied with pure, fresh linen. 

Wlhen all was ready, Mr. Walley came sham- 
bling to where I sat, and, placing his arm about 
my shoulder, said in tremulous tones (as though 
he felt that he might not have opportunity 
to say it in the morning, and I, too, half feared 
he would not), *'I hope you will forgive me for 
getting you into this dreadful experience.'^ I 
assured him it was all right and that the worst 
was over, notwithstanding we had yet four days 
to be in the saddle. But I nevertheless had some 
misgivings about it. Then he w^ent to his little 
room, and soon in our narrow beds we gave our- 
selves over to "tired nature's sweet restorer,'' 
and forgot the woes of the day in dreams of 
fairer climes. 



67 



CHAPTER VII. 
Second Day in the Interior 

After a most refreshing sleep, I am recalled 
to consciousness by the gentle opening of my door 
and the beautiful young lady, with hufa on her 
head and bearing a tray with steaming coffee, 
two kinds of cake, and bread, came softly to my 
bedside, and, drawing up a chair, placed the tray 
on it, and then retired without further attempt 
at speech than a simple morning greeting. I 
thought it was my breakfast that she had brought, 
and ate and drank heartily. It seemed nice to be 
waited on thus. 

Then, rising and preparing for a continua- 
tion of our trip, I found Mr. Walley apparently 
ready also, but shuddering at the thought of a 
possible repetition of the experience of yester- 
day. But imagine our surprise when the young 
woman of the home began to set the table for our 
breakfast; and a meal as sumptuous as the one 
on the evening before was soon before us. The 
only trouble was, we had eaten and drunk too 

68 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

freely of the first serving — like the man who ate 
his fill of soup, not knowing anything else was to 
follow, and when he saw one delicious course 
follow another, but of which he could not eat, 
sat ashamed, chafed and angry at his evident 
loss. The lodging and two meals cost us three 
kroner (about eighty-five cents) apiece. 

Twice in my story I have referred to 
women wearing hufas. It is well that I now ex- 
plain. All Icelandic women from about twelve 
years old and upward wear on their heads a 
little circle of knit material, black and about 
five inches in diameter. In the center of this 
circle, and a continuation of the knit work, is 
an extended portion like the finger of a glove, 
but about six inches long; to the end of the ex- 
tension is fastened a silk tassel, a foot in length. 
At the union of the tassel with the knit-work 
there is always a ferrule of silver or gold, some- 
times highly ornamented and costly; the ferrule 
is usually about two inches in length. The ef- 
fect when upon the head of the wearer is quite 
pleasing, suggesting modesty and a semi-scholastic 
appearance. On festal occasions the women 

69 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

wear a high, white ornamental head-garment 
instead of the hufa. 

Though very sore, I am ready at 9:45 a.m., 
and our second day's ride begins. When we had 
proceeded about a mile, Mr. Walley discovered 
that he had lost an important piece of his camera. 
We sent our guide back to find it, while we tried 
to hold our herd together. After waiting some 
time, I turned the herd over to my friend and 
rode back to assist in the search. Soon I found 
the missing part, and then we were ready to move 
on. But we had tried to tell our guide not to 
move so rapidly as on the day before. 

When we started, and until noon, the 
air was warm and sultry, and at times a light 
rain fell. The day was cloudy throughout, and 
from noon on we faced a cold wind. We crossed 
streams at least fifteen times, but, having learn- 
ed from yesterday's experience, I kept my feet 
dry by drawing them up to the back of my 
horse. We passed a number of good farms, 
each with its cluster of sod houses, the first of im- 
portance being Stadur, where there is a telephone 
station and a church. 

About noon we began climbing steadily into 

70 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

the interior. Our path was rugged, and at times 
we descended into river-courses by steep and 
slippery banks where safety suggested that we 
dismount. 

Throughout the afternoon the snow-covered 
mountain, Banda, looms majestic to the right of 
us. The numerous streams at times present 
beautiful cascades and falls. Now we find ice 
and snowdrifts that have not yet yielded to 
the summer warmth. Occasionally we follow 
river-courses where the canyons are deep and in- 
duce a strange thrill because of our nearness 
to the rim. There were not so many curlews 
to-day. I saw three eider-ducks. In one of the 
streams I saw a primitive water-wheel which was 
turned by the water's passing at its side, and the 
upright post to which the wheel was fastened 
led up to a small hopper where whatever was 
to be ground was fed to the crushing-stones. 

At three o'clock I saw the first bushes yet 
seen on the trip, and here I heard for the first 
time in Iceland a song-bird. A little later we 
rode across a small glacier, and soon were in 
front of a refuge-house. In many places along 
the way to-day we found high heaps of stones to 

71 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

mark the way for travelers in winter-time when 
the snow is very deep. Nobody has permanent 
residence in the refuge-houses; they are simply 
shelter from the storm for man and beast until 
they dare venture out again. 

From one of the high ridges that we crossed 
we saw a beautiful panorama of hill, mountain, 
barren plain, rocky ravine, and dashing river. 
The largest river that we crossed to-day is the 
Nord. At the last river that we crossed, my 
friend, weary and taking his time, had dropped 
so far behind as not to see where we had crossed. 
Attempting to cross where he thought it best, 
his horse mired to the depth of half his body, and 
only with difficulty could he be extricated. We 
learned of this only on waiting for him and not- 
ing his dripping horse and garments. 

About ten o'clock in the evening we entered 
what the natives called the "forest". It is of 
dwarf birch and covers several square miles of a 
wide-stretching river bottom ; in it there is scarce- 
ly a tree over three inches in diameter or ten feet 
high. And here again I hear song-birds. How 
much a bird seems to need a tree or bush ! There 
is no certain path through the "forest," and our 

72 




A Fair Virginian in Ordinary Icelandic Dress 




Icelandic Maiden in Festive Attire 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

way is found with some difficulty. A half mile 
beyond is Norstunga, our destination for the 
night. At this place is a frame house, a small 
church, and a bridge, the materials for all having 
been brought from the coast on the backs of the 
little horses, or were in part dragged by them. 
It is 10:45 p.m. 

We found everybody in bed except one man 
down at the river, waist deep in the water, 
fishing. Our approach in the weird half-light 
and quiet of that night reminded me of the ap- 
proach of ^'night riders*' to the home of unsus- 
pecting victims. Two beautiful girls in night- 
dress and slippers came out in response to the re- 
peated knocking of our guide. Then the man 
of the house and one who was evidently his wife, 
a queenly woman in appearance and bearing, 
appeared. We were ushered into a comfortable 
and well-furnished room, and immediately they 
began preparations for our supper. 

And while we waited, three other men ar- 
rived, two of whom had been with us on the 
boat. These two had undertaken to make the 
trip across the island by sharing a bicycle between 
them. They started on their trip at Bordeyri, 

73 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

in opposition to the wishes and counsel of all on 
board who knew Iceland. All had said, "You 
can't go across Iceland on a bycicle." But the 
Scotchman, who owned the wheel, persisted in 
the thought that he could do it and in the de- 
termination that he would do it, and his English 
companion championed the enterprise. But to- 
night they came in without the wheel; they had 
three ponies and a guide instead. Upon our ask- 
ing about the wheel, the owner said, ''Aye, such 
roads! such rivers! I got tired carrying my 
wheel and shoes above my head as I crossed the 
streams. And then the fording was so rough 
that my feet are so bruised that I can hardly 
walk! I left my wheel back yonder at a farm- 
house with word to send it back to Scotland at 
the first opportunity. Aye, we find the ponies sur- 
er." (After reaching my home a few months later, 
I received a letter from this gentleman, stating 
that his wheel had come to him all right.) 

At twelve o'clock midnight we were seated 
at an excellent meal, and we ate again by the 
simple light of the after-glow, and then im- 
mediately sought the rest we so much needed af- 
ter the stress of thirteen hours in the saddle. 

74 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Third and the Fourth Day in the 
Interior. 

Last night I again had a clean bed to myself 
and slept on feathers and under feathers. I 
fose early to write the story of yesterday. On 
making an inventory of my aches and pains I 
am emphatic that to-day the rate of speed will 
be at the minimum. 

We were late starting this morning, it being 
10:20 o'clock when we mounted our horses. 
Then we separated company from the late-com- 
ers of last night and began our weary way. 

To-day we crossed immediately a bridge, one 
of two that will accommodate us on this stage 
of our trip, and one of three or four on the whole 
overland trip. In a little while we sighted a 
number of steaming hot springs, a novelty to my 
companion, but not to one who had previously 
seen the Yellowstone Park of my own country. 
Nevertheless, the sight was beautiful and interest- 
ing. The largest river to-day was the seething 

75 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

glacier-colored Hvita. Surely, had there been 
no bridge here we had not been able to cross it. 

In the course of to-day we passed near Star- 
holt, where there is a church. We later passed 
immediately in front of Lunder, where there is 
a church and a few graves — the first grave I 
had seen since leaving the coast. The way was 
rough throughout the day; the weather was not 
so cold as yesterday, but we had some drizzling 
mist-like rain, and later, bright sunshine. Some- 
times we followed an indistinct path over rocky 
ridges, and then we would be picking our way 
through miry sulphur marshes, or following no 
path at all. Occasionally we would pass where 
the path had been worn about two feet deep 
and barely wide enough for the feet of our horses 
to pass each other in it. To escape injury I had 
to throw my feet over my horse's back. But 
even with all my care, on rounding a rocky ledge 
the path was so narrow that my knee was crushed 
against the rock wall with such violence as to 
cause an involuntary cry of pain to escape me. 

Toward evening when we began to ascend 
a river-course between mountain ranges I felt 
sure that our guide was in error, and, experiment- 

76 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

ing with my compass, I felt additional certainty 
in the matter, and tried to tell him that he was 
wrong; but either he did not understand me, or 
did not care to understand. He simply said, 
^'Yauf' (which means ^V^s"), and rode on. To 
add to my annoyance, my English friend just 
would not whip his horse to keep up with me. So 
the guide indicated for me to get behind and 
switch-up his horse for him. I have much of this 
to do, and it wearies me nearly as much as my rid- 
ing. But we have planned an easy day and shall 
reach our destination early. So in the late after- 
noon we permit our horses to pick their way as 
best they can over hummocks and rocks while 
we note the beautiful river-courses in the black 
lava-rock mountains, with here and there a 
waterfall of no mean significance, until 5 :45 
p.m. Holt is reached; here two hours later we 
retire that we may get the rest necessary to 
endure the to-morrow's trip of anticipated hard- 
ships. 

In the light night I awoke to hear voices in 
undertone just beneath my window; then there 
was quiet, stealthy moving about; but several 
times they came back and low conversations 

77 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

were heard at my window. Had I not been in 
Iceland, I'd have suspected intentional mischief; 
as it was, it simply created an air of mystery 
that I was not able to understand, even next 
morning. 

We wanted an early start this time. The 
hostess served a delicious breakfast in which I 
ate the sweetest and most palatable fish that I 
had ever tasted. I do not know the Icelandic 
name for the fish, but I think the English name 
is "char.*^ It is a species of salmon, but much 
better than even fresh salmon, to my taste. 

Before starting, at 8:15 a.m., the lady of the 
home explained in signs and Icelandic names a 
map of her country that was on the wall of the 
room in which we ate; and then she took us out 
and pointed out by name some of the jokuUs 
that were seen towering near or far. 

I felt somewhat anxious to get onto my horse 
this morning. Our way led over a high and 
rocky mountain. But almost everywhere were 
flowers — silver-leaved lady's mantle, lady's bed- 
straw, grass of Parnassus, sea-pink, saxiphrage, 
buttercup, wild thyme, spotted orchis, and other 
varieties that I cannot name. For about an 

78 



I 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

hout to-day we had to have a local guide, as 
there was no path to follow. On a high ridge 
near us and silhouetted against the sky a few 
ravens sat and watched us, it seemed with 
hungry interest. Until noon Ok jokuU was in 
plain view to our left; also the Skjaldsbreid 
jokuU, near which we rode while keeping Sula 
mountain on our right. After crossing several 
small steaming sulphur streams, and climbing 
wearily the rocky slope we reached at noon the 
highest point attained on our trip. Here the 
heavy branching moss was about a foot deep and 
strong enough to support the weight of a man — 
it seemed like walking over a heavy brussels car- 
pet. 

Leaning against a great rock and studying 
the snow-capped mountains and upper ice-fields 
extending for miles backward and skyward, the 
traveler is apt to be reminded of Switzerland, 
save that here shrubbery and tree-growth are 
lacking. The air is pure and bracing, bringing 
a message of health from the heights, and slight- 
ly scented with the flowers that in the short 
summer seem doing double duty swinging their 

79 



The Land of Frost and Fire 



censers to perfume the breezes for the poor na- 
tives of this land of the long winter night. 

Just ahead of us is a great depression now 
filled with water, forming what would be a 
beautiful lake were it fringed with grasses and 
ferns. One time it was the crater of a vast and 
terrible volcano. Riding around this we spent 
half the afternoon in winding and zigzagging 
down the farther slope, sometimes over danger- 
ously steep and rough places, over great stretches 
of volcanic sand and by scroll-like lava beds, 
rent in great crevices, or fissures, and everywhere 
showing forth the story of awful fire-struggle 
in ages past, and with here and there steam- jets 
pregnant with sulphur even to-day. 

About the middle of the afternoon we reach 
a great depressed area in the farther end of which 
there is yet a lake of considerable size. At some 
seasons the water covers many times the area it 
occupies at present. We ride for an hour over 
soft>-yielding, moist sand skirting the water's 
edge. Then we climb a steep ridge and only a 
little way ahead we sight ^Xady's Seat," some- 
where beyond which is the Valley of Thingvellir. 

80 







o 




On the Logberg 
Thingvellir Lake 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

in which is to be our destination for the night. 
It is now six o'clock. 

"Lady's Seat" is a semi-isolated height running 
out with a gradual incline upward, from the 
ridge on which we now are, for a few 
hundred yards, very narrow at the beginning, 
but gradually widening as you proceed, and 
ending suddenly with a precipitous height of 
several hundred feet above the plain. Dismount- 
ing and turning our horses over to the guide, we 
pick our way out over the deep springy moss to 
the end of the "seat." What a scene! Grassy 
meadow just in front with a number of horses 
"picking" and a number of men and women 
lounging about. Beyond the meadow is the 
wide-stretching valley, the historical center of the 
whole island. On the farther side of the valley 
is the beautiful island-dotted lake. All around 
the valley and lake are precipitous cliff-walls 
from twenty-five feet to several hundred feet 
in height. 

When we came from "Lady's Seat" the guide 
had already taken the horses down to the mead- 
ow; and we were glad, for the way down was 
very rough — rude steps had been formed of big 

81 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

boulders. It was difficult to walk down; riding 
was scarcely possible. I was told that there are 
only four places where entrance can be made into 
the valley — one at each of the cardinal points of 
the compass. 

Then we rode for two hours over a desolate 
lava-bed (only passing a few farms in that 
time), with great fissures here and there yawning 
at either side, twenty to fifty feet deep, in the 
bottoms of some of which I could see water, as 
my horse trod within a foot or two of the edge. 
A struggling dwarf birch growth lies twisted 
over the rocks, scarcely finding enough nourish- 
ment to give it strength to raise its head. 

After eight o'clock we reached our destination 
for the night — Thingvellir Hotel; and here we 
found interested friends to greet us. They 
had come out to this place after the boat had 
reached Reykjavik. We were glad to see them, 
but not proud that they should see us as we 
found ourselves after our hard four days ; for my 
friend's face was red and blistered, and I felt 
too weary to hold my head erect. But thus we 
were compelled to run the gauntlet of their 
interested scrutiny. 

82 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Valley of Thingvellir. 

The valley into which we have entered is the 
historic center of the whole island. When the 
Althing, the government of Iceland, was estab- 
lished in 930 A. D., here was its seat, and here 
it remained several hundred years. To this 
valley the people of the whole land were ex- 
pected to come once every year to tarry for two 
weeks. In that ifortnight controve'rsies were 
settled, cases were tried, sentences were pro- 
nounced, and executions were carried out, relating 
to the year ending ; and new laws and regulations 
might be made for the year beginning. Any man 
might come and plead his own case before the 
Althing. 

To the visitor, familiar in part with this 
history, this valley, bearing evidences on every 
hand of awful cataclysms and terrors in geologic 
ages, becomes the arena of struggle between men 
before the tribunal of justice, where the fires of 
hate and strife were either quenched, or one or 

83 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

both of the parties executed. What jargon of 
tongues in this annual gathering — men and wom- 
en who have fled to this place as to a city of 
refuge to claim the protection of the council, and 
pleading with the eloquence of tears and sobs 
for recognition of their pitiable plight! And 
men and women, criminal in every intent and 
act, waiting in dogged and sullen silence the 
sentence — and also the execution that must sure- 
ly follow the awful arraignment in court! For, 
in those days, it is said, before the session of the 
Althing had ended and the people had dispersed 
to their homes, the execution of every sentence 
was carried out in the presence of the people. 
Yes, Thingvellir is to Iceland to-day what 
the Forum is to Rome and the Acropolis to 
Athens. And when the Icelanders celebrated 
their thousandth anniversary of history in 1874, 
it was to Thingvellir that every eye and heart 
turned as the fitting place for the crowning 
feature of the event. And though it is fifty kilo- 
meters from Reykjavik, and though they had as 
guest of honor the King of Denmark, their own 
king, they took him on horseback to the place of 
their national beginnings. 

84 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

This valley surrounded by high mountains, 
an area once lowered suddenly by the hand of the 
Almighty, and to-day with its deep and fearful 
chasms, its blasted vegetation, its steaming hot 
springs, might suggest that it is in awful poise, 
or suspense, liable again to sink until perhaps 
buried in the bosom of the earth. What a place 
was this in which to mete out justice when both 
the criminal and the judge were in the same val- 
ley of decision — and that whole valley itself 
mysteriously held from sinking into oblivion! 
Of course, the fact that it has not sunk deeper 
within the history of man gives unusual bold- 
ness to the visitor; but the evidences are on every 
hand that this that is now called a valley did sink 
at least seventy-five feet and then stopped, — to 
sink no farther? Who knows? 

Of this valley of erstwhile terrors we shall 
note a few things of special interest. On the 
evening of my arrival I walked out a little way 
from the hotel, but was soon stopped by deep, 
yawning fissures in the rocky earth ; and far down 
I could hear the gurgling, lapping water like a 
great fiend reveling in delightful but forbidden 
gratification of desire. Then looking about me 

85 



The Land of Frost ai^d Fire 

in the weird light, I concluded to postpone fur- 
ther investigations until the morning. 

The following morning found me ready early 
to begin sight-seeing. I first go to the Logberg, 
the tribunal rock-island, where the judges of the 
Althing sat in council — the Areopagus of the 
Icelanders. There is only one way in which 
to reach the Logberg. It is an island formed 
by the separating of one large fissure into two, 
each of which is nearly as large as the one of 
which it forms a part. The island formed by 
these two fissures is probably fifty feet wide at 
the widest place, and it is probably one hundred 
yards long (dimensions are given from memory 
and may vary materially from being accurate). 
At one end of the island the displacement of a 
great rock and its lodgment in the fissure forms 
a natural bridge over which one may walk to 
the Logberg. 

On this island one must walk very carefully, 
for while on one part of it there is a luxuriant 
growth of forget-me-nots and other flowers, one 
must be careful in approaching the sides of the 
island. Here are the great fissures, ten to fif- 
teen feet wide and forty to fifty feet deep to 
water, and with a depth of water in some places 

86 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

of fifty or rri/ore feet. Standing on the edge of 
such a chasm is by no means a pleasure-giving 
experience to most people, and, because of a 
prenatal event for my friend, he is quite ill at 
ease. 

Onto a jutting rock in one of the fissures re- 
ferred to, it is said, criminals, sentenced here to 
die, were thrown to break their backs; and then 
their limp bodies would fall to the dark depths 
where the water with demon-like gurgle would 
swallow them up and hide them away forever 
from the sight of those they had wronged. Think 
of It! Just here where I stand the accusation 
was brought against him in the Althing— maybe 
with tears he pleaded for mercy, but he is ad- 
judged guilty; he is sentenced to die. He is 
now in the hands of the executioner. There is 
no dangling at the end of a rope for people to 
see him, and then in the night to dream of the 
contorted face and writhing body; no bleeding, 
headless trunk with headsman wiping his gory 
ax, the lingering, subconscious memory of which 
to cause children to gasp and cringe in sleep. 
No! A quick movement on the verge of the 
abyss — then — gone forever! 

87 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

As has already been said, here, in the year 
1000 A. D., by action of the Althing, Christian- 
ity was made the religion of the land. And then 
began its literary age resulting in the best of its 
Sagas and Eddas, And here were witnessed 
deeds of valor and many contests of gory renown. 

But to-day, how different ! Think not of deeds 
of blood; look not into the abyss of groans and 
despair-laden tradition. But rather linger among 
the flowers so profuse in growth and rich in 
color; and though growing on soil oft drenched 
with human blood, let their beauty and fragrance 
point to the "Rose of Sharon'* and the "Lily of 
the Valley," whose life-teachings were memorial- 
ized here nine hundred years ago in government 
decree ; and let that beauty and fragrance tell of a 
future grand in hope. 

A merry party of natives, men and women, 
gallop along the road leading by the lake. 
I envy their horsemanship. Later I try to pene- 
trate farther over the moss and straggling 
low bushes beyond the Logberg, but find- 
ing that it requires much care because of the 
ruggedness of the surface and because of fissures, 
large and small, I return to look at the church 

88 



I 




< 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

and parsonage which, either in themselves, or 
in the buildings that preceded them, bear a 
close relationship to much of historic interest in 
the region. The church is quite small, eighteen 
by twenty-eight feet, and is a frame structure. 
But notwithstanding its insignificance of size and 
structure, kings have stood within it. By it are 
a few graves. The parsonage is not an inviting 
building, but it is good, for the interior of Ice- 
land. It is a wooden building. 

I next visit the Almannagja, or "AU-Men's- 
Rift," a great rift, or chasm, at one edge of the 
sunken valley, and near the Logberg. When the 
valley sank, the river Oxara, that formerly flow- 
ed into and through this region, then necessarily 
flowed into the rift, or chasm. Though the rim 
of the chasm on the valley side was lowered 
seventy-five, or more, feet below the outer rim 
(that did not sink), the chasm itself was still 
much deeper. Through this chasm, after the 
plunge resulting in beautiful falls of possibly one 
hundred feet, the river flows for about a quarter 
of a mile and then makes a sudden turn through 
the inner rim and out into the valley, and a 

89 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

little later flows into the beautiful island-dotted 
lake of Thingvellir. 

Just where the river turns through the inner 
rim, there is a sort of whirlpool, which, through 
the centuries, has been known as the "drowning- 
pool.'^ Tradition says that in this pool women 
who were adjudged unfaithful to their husbands 
were sentenced to be drowned. And then these 
heights were covered with people to witness the 
executions, hence the name, *'All-MenVRift," 
or '^Almannagja/' 

Seated on this rift, where to-day wild thyme 
and other flowers grow in rich profusion, but 
from which place, if the traditions be true, one 
could plainly have witnessed the executions in 
the **drowning-pool," or at the *'blood-stone" on 
the Logberg, I dwell for a time in that dreamy, 
dreadful past — and then urge myself out of the 
•reverie to look at the present scene. In front of 
me is the Almannagja, with the rushing Oxara 
and the frowning west wall; to the north are 
desolate, somber-hued mountains; to the east is 
the valley, and hazy heights are in the distance; 
to the south- — ah, here is beauty! The historic 
places already referred to are in the foreground, 

90 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

beyond is the glassy lake mirroring in strong 
shadow the islands that rise from its bosom, and 
at the farther side the mind sees the river Sog 
spring lightly from the pent-up valley and carry 
the crystal treasures of its mother-lake to hide 
them forever in intermingling with the vast and 
open sea. 



91 



CHAPTER X. 
Last Day On Horseback. 

When we thought we were ready to leave the 
hotel at ThingvelHr, and were on our horses, 
it was discovered that our dog had not been 
fed. And of such value had he proven himself 
that to look into his pleading, almost human eyes 
and know that he was hungry at the beginning 
of a six or eight hours' trip in which he was to 
serve us well, was sufficient to make us willing 
to tarry an hour, if need be, to secure him food, 
even though it should make us late in reaching 
Reykjavik, our destination for that night. 

Slightly past noon we started; and soon we 
crossed the bridge over the Oxara, just below the 
"drowning-pool." Here v^e met a train of 
horses bearing lumber into the interior. Each 
horse carried two bundles, one on either side; 
and these two bundles were tied together and 
the uniting cord or chain was thrown across the 
saddle, or pannier. The front ends of the bun- 
dles were elevated above the horse's head while 

92 



The Land of Frost and Fire 



the rear ends dragged upon the ground. Some- 
times a very heavy stick of timber is carried be- 
tw^een two horses. 

Almost immediately after crossing the stream 
wt began a remarkable ascent. Up through the 
high rock-wall left exposed when the valley sank 
there is a deep narrow cleft, in places barely wide 
enough for vehicles to pass through. While the 
ascent is rather steep, it is gradual. When the 
road from the capital was pushed through to this 
valley, here was the only place that it was pos- 
sible to enter. Nature opened the passage, and 
then man graded it and put up protecting walls 
and pillars. It is indeed a romantic and exceed- 
ingly interesting gateway to Thingvellir through 
which we are now passing outward. On either 
side high, dark walls of rock, heavy shadows on 
the path, pretty flowers in nooks and on narrow 
ledges — all so impressive. And when we reached 
the western summit and turned to look down that 
great crack in the Wall through which we had 
just ridden, we were grateful that the fissure 
had made it possible for us to get out of the val- 
ley, and that it did not close its terrible jaws 
while we were passing through it. We entered 

93 



The Land of Frost and Fire 



Thingvellir by walking down a very rocky cleft, 
or ravine, and left it as just described. 

After a lingering view of the valley from this 
most excellent viewpoint, we move forward on 
this last stage of our horseback riding. If all 
goes well, we shall reach our destination by early 
twilight. The distance is scarcely more than 
thirty-five miles and the road is excellent — a 
splendid carriage-road of recent construction, 
about the only one that I saw in Iceland. 

We thought that by walking our horses the 
greater part of the way we would still have 
plenty of time for our trip; but later we found 
it would require the usual rapid movement if 
we would reach Reykjavik at the designated hour. 

Though the road is good, it proves to be a 
monotonous and very wearying ride. Then the 
flies, or gnats, are so very annoying — getting into 
our nostrils, mouths, ears, and eyes — and very 
tenacious in their devotion to us. There are 
few grassy plots, but flowers apparently every- 
where — even on what seemed endless waste 
lands. 

For about one-third of the distance between 
Thingvellir and Reykjavik there stretches out in 

94 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

bigness and loneliness of desolation the ^* Moss- 
fell Moor." In the glare of the afternoon, 
notwithstanding the little flowers and the oc- 
casional trill of the curlew, the spirits are de- 
pressed. It seems as though nature would say to 
all, "Enter not here," were this highway not 
already established. And along this road are 
mute evidences of the awful winters that reign 
here supreme. At intervals of every few rods 
are rock-built pillars or pyramids eight or ten 
feet high, to mark the road when deep snows 
lie on the moor; and that there may be no 
doubt as to the side on which the road lies, there 
is a rock at the top of each pillar that is made to 
project toward the road. And two or three 
refuge-houses are along the way — uninviting in 
appearance, but a haven of hope to one caught 
here in a merciless winter storm. 

As we rode over this bleak stretch of melan- 
choly-inducing waste and thought of the gather- 
ing winter tempest, when even the rocks would 
seem to ring in challenge to the smiting blast, 
and when the storm-king would shout his com- 
mands from Hengill Mountain, and the air would 
be filled with blinding powder of snow — ah, what 

95 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

then could a poor stray wayfarer do on Moss- 
fell Moor! Many lives are said to have been 
lost where we now ride. Said Mr. Walley, 
''I can't help thinking of a phrase of Cardinal 
Newman's hymn, 'Lead, Kindly Light'; it is 
this: 'O'er moor and fen.' " And then we re- 
peated the last stanza of that sweet hymn: 

'^So long thy power hath kept me. 

Sure it still will lead me on 
O' er moor and fen^ o' er crag and torrent. 

Till the night is gone; 
And blest with the morn those angel faces smile, 

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile,^' 

At one point on our way we caught sight of 
Hecla, that king of volcanoes in Iceland, but 
to-day wearing a cloak and cap of snow. It is 
not far from the southern coast, and is about 
centrally located in the longitude of the island. 

When about half of our distance was covered 
we reached the summit of a rise in the road and 
far to the west I saw the great shining ocean. 
Almost involuntarily my cap was removed from 
my head, and I said in joyous exclamation, "Yon- 
der is the sea; and beyond is home!" And then 

96 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

I felt a strange tugging at the tense strings of 
an emotion that must exist somewhere in the 
heart of every man. And the people of this land 
claim to have found that home for me! 

At the same time far to the northwest is seen 
Snaefell's jokuU — eighty miles away, yet not 
looking more than twenty. (Distance is very 
deceptive in these northern latitudes.) New 
vigor seemed induced by the sight of the sea and 
the thought of home. So for the rest of the way 
we rode more rapidly. The heaviest rainfall of 
our trip was encountered near its close, but it 
did not delay us. We were considered very 
fortunate in escaping so well. 

Just a little before reaching the capital city 
we crossed another bridge, and in an hour or less 
time, at 8:30 p.m. we were riding through the 
streets of Reykjavik to a resting-place in the splen- 
did hotel bearing the same name as the city itself. 
Here we parted temporarily from our guide who 
had to take his horses outside the city limits 
that he might find grass for them in the night. 
But we strongly urged him to return to take sup- 
per with us, as a kind of joyous recognition of 
his services rendered us. We waited for him; 

97 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

but he did not come. We shall know why in 
the morning. 

After supper, the Botnia not being in the har- 
bor, I went to the Hotel Iceland for the night. 
It was an evening of repose, and a night of sat- 
isfying, refreshing sleep. 



98 



CHAPTER XI. 
Reykjavik. 

It was late (ten o'clock) when I arose the 
next morning, and, feeling somewhat the effects 
of my five days on horseback, I determined to 
ievote myself leisurely to seeing the sights of 
the city. I first went to find my English friend. 
Our guide soon appeared to receive his pay and 
to say good-by. He was visibly perturbed. An 
interpreter said that he had lost his dog. In the 
city the dog had strayed or had been enticed away 
from him. How would the man be able to take 
all his horses back over the almost trackless 
waste without his dog? He missed him in the 
early evening and had hunted for him until 
nearly midnight, this being the reason our guide 
could not come to our supper. He had renewed 
and continued the search in the early morning 
hours. It was hard on our guide to lose his dog, 
and even we felt that we had lost a friend. 

It is no light thing to say good-by to a guide 
that has served you well; who has led you to 

99 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

sights that please and scenes that awe; who has 
picked out a path to safety for you where you 
know there are dangers of quicksand and flood. 
But we have said it to Pall Jansson,, and have 
watched his retreating figure as he passed into the 
street and out to his horses and on to his dwelling- 
place on the northern shore of his bleak island 
home. He is gone, but he is not, nor shall he 
ever be, forgotten. 

Reykjavik is a town of about twelve thousand 
people, and in some of its aspects is quite modern. 
It has some fine streets, pretty homes, good stores, 
two banks, telephone and telegraph, fairly good 
sewerage, and gas lighting. Its chief industries 
are fishing and commerce. Great sheds are filled 
with fish packed for the markets. In other 
parts of the city are stone-paved areas on which 
fish are being dried. 

But to-day, after writing many letters, I go 
to the Senate House, a rather imposing structure, 
to the Cathedral, and to the Museum; but the 
last-named place was not open at the hour of my 
visit. Then I walk the streets and enter stores, 
surprised at the air of progressiveness that pre- 
vails. There are three newspapers published 

100 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

here; one of them is the "Isafold," the paper 
having the peculiar manner of printing a serial 
story (as already referred to) that when it is 
finished the subscriber has the story in book form 
by simply clipping out and stitching together. 
The Botnia came into port this evening about 
seven o'clock and anchored nearly a half mile 
from the jetty (there is no pier at Reykjavik). 
I wanted to go to the boat, but I had difficulty 
in persuading any boatman to take me, for the sea 
was rough and the waves were high. But by agree- 
ing to pay more than double the usual price, two 
men undertook to row me to the Botnia, They 
placed me in the stern of the little boat and indi- 
cated that I must steer the vessel — a thing that I 
never before in my life had attempted to do; and 
to thread our way among other boats and over 
boisterous waves was more than enough for one 
so unskilled as I. But after a few semi-serious 
blunders on my part we arrived safe, and a 
feeling of restfulness and security came to me as 
I climbed the side-ladder of the boat I had left 
a week earlier at Blonduos, on the northern 
coast of the island. And on board the Botnia, 
in my own berth, I slept in quiet peace that night. 

101 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

On shore again next morning at eleven o'clock, 
I first visit the **Laguar," or hot springs, which 
can be reached in less than an hour's v^alk from 
the landing-place. When I reached the springs 
I saw every evidence that the water was hot, 
nevertheless, I wanted to verify my opinion by 
testing it. When I approached the water I saw 
a boy that seemed only half-witted watching 
me, and when I thrust my fingers into the water, 
but drew them out again with such celerity as 
surprised even myself, and then saw the unfeign- 
ed delight of that boy I knew that I was not 
mistaken in my surmisings as to his sanity! 

This place, because there is no expense for 
fuel, is made the chief washing-place for Reykja- 
vik ; and the stream has been made to pass through 
convenient permanent channels, and buildings 
have been erected to serve the people well. When 
I visited the place there were possibly a dozen 
women and several men engaged at work wash- 
ing. Clothes were spread out over large areas 
or were hanging on lines to dry: A woman 
once fell into the stream and was scalded to 
death ; and so they had to place curved iron bars 
over the channels in such positions and arrange- 

102 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

ment as would permit washing and at the same 
time protect the persons from falling in. 

Near this place is the Leper Hospital. At 
one time there were many lepers in Iceland ; but 
in recent years there was established this hos- 
pital, a large imposing building on the shore of 
the harbor. So carefully and scientifically have 
they treated the cases, and dealt with the dread 
peril, that it is said there are only about fifty 
inmates now in the institution. And this num- 
ber, I think, represents the number of lepers on 
the entire island. 

On returning to the city I went to the museum, 
which in the main is surprisingly good for the 
far North, and which in its exhibits of ancient 
native-work in wood and stone and bone are ex- 
ceptionally fine. 

Leaving the museum, I study the architecture 
of the buildings, which is, ordinarily, severely 
plain, but in many instances it bears marks of 
the distinctively artistic. And the people interest 
me. I see girls and women in their homes, in the 
stores, or on the streets wearing hufas and lamb- 
skin slippers, and some wearing the beautiful 
ermine-trimmed eiderdown cloaks. And some of 
the girls are unmistakably attractive. The men 

103 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

as a rule wear no distinctive national garment. 
My experience leads me to say, with no uncer- 
tainty in the statement, that I found the Icelander 
almost universally courteous. 

Then I walk to the farther limit of the city 
studying the view of the bay and of far-oif, yet 
apparently near, SnaefelFs jokuU, from every van- 
tage viewpoint. Then I return by way of the cem- 
etery to look at the lake and the governor's man- 
sion, and to tarry awhile in the park, or central 
square, about which the chief public buildings 
of the city are located. In the center of the 
park is a statute of Thorwaldson, known as 
the great Danish sculptor, but who was born of 
Icelandic parents, at sea. Thorwaldson carved 
the *Xion of Lucerne" in Switzerland; and his 
**Twelve Apostles,'* to be seen in a church in 
Copenhagen, is one of the world's master-pro- 
ductions. And his great hall of statuary in the 
same city, containing none but the works of his 
own hands, is a marvel to any beholder. In an 
open central court in this Copenhagen hall of 
statuary, under a bed of ivy, with no marble or 
bronze above him, sleeps the great sculptor whose 
statute we have just seen in the park at Reykjavik. 
The Icelanders do well to claim him, and thus 
to honor him. 

104 



CHAPTER XII. 
**Good-by;' 

At four o^clock in the evening I went again 
to the boat, and my tour in Iceland was ended. 
But still I studied the city from the boat. Just 
a little way from where we lie at anchor are 
the two small islands, Vithey and Engey. The 
latter of these two is distinctively the home of 
the eider-duck, and is said to be a place of unique 
and unusual interest when the young are hatching 
and the owners of the island are gathering the 
down which we value so highly. 

Having visited the land, and having associated 
with and studied the people, I must modify my 
former conceptions of both very materially. But 
the same is true of all places, persons, and things — 
the more we know about them the more must 
out original thought concerning them be changed. 
With respect to Iceland my change of thought 
is all favorable to the land and her people. I 
am glad for this trip. 

At 7:30 p.m., on that evening, July 21, we 

105 



The Land of Frost and Fire 



weighed anchor to begin our return to Scotland. 
The twilight was filled with haze, and in the 
weird after hours the city and the land, receding, 
seemed swallowed up in a sort of lead-colored 
mist — the land to be seen once more on the mor- 
row. 

The sea was rough and the boat rocked and 
pitched considerably in the night. And since 
we had on board about three hundred horses 
(over a hundred more had been taken on at 
Reykjavik), I feared for them. 

At 6:30 o'clock the next morning we made 
our last stop before reaching Leith, our starting- 
point for the trip. It was at the Westmann 
Islands, lying only a little to the south of the 
coast of Iceland. Here the sea was too rough 
for us to get to the town, so we anchored some- 
what to the leeward of the great cliffs. These 
islands are noted for the multitudes of their birds, 
or sea-fowls, which the natives catch by daring 
feats, and, it is said, then use the dried oily 
bodies as fuel in the winter time. The natives 
also draw up their sheep by means of ropes to 
the grassy spots on the upper heights for them 
there to feed. 

106 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

The quiet of the morning is like a Sunday, 
and the waves playing against the cliifs make a 
solemn music, which I think must be continuous 
here. But we stopped for only an hour and then 
weighed anchor for our final run to Scotland. 

The morning was bright and sunny, and a 
very fine view of southern Iceland was ours all 
through that forenoon. I had excellent views 
of headlands, barren wastes, mountains, and snow- 
fields extending far inland. I could plainly see 
Hecla (over 5,000 feet high), Eyjafjalla jokuU, 
and Myrdals jokull. The scene will not be for- 
gotten. 

And then came the heavy sea! For nearly 
two whole days the waves were very boisterous 
and seemed continually to want to wash the 
deck of our vessel — and our boat rolled and 
pitched like a plaything among them. In the 
hours of the tempest one night a child was born 
to one of the passengers. A purse of ninety-nine 
and three-fourths kroner was made up and given 
to the proud parents; and they named the child 
"Botnia," in honor of the boat and in recogni- 
tion of the kindness shown them on it. 

This return voyage ranks first for miserable 

107 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

experiences in all of my seafaring. I was un- 
deniably sea-sick! For thirty-six hours I tasted 
not a mouthful of food. Sometimes it was with 
difficulty that I could maintain my place in my 
berth, because of the rocking and pitching of 
the boat. In the midst of my distress I sent for 
my friend of the overland route; and when he 
had reached my cabin I said, **Mr. Walley, I 
want you to record another resolution — *When 
I get home, if that boon be granted me, there 
will be no more long sea voyaging for me!" 

But I love the sea, and even now I have 
forgotten the serious nature of that vow, and 
should fortune smile and beckon me, there would 
be a responsive thrill in answer to the call. 

But the memory of those awful days! In 
thought of them the following not very classic 
lines (slightly modified) by Joseph Bert Smiley, 
very aptly express my feelings and pleas: 

^^ Briny Ocean, ere we part. 
Give, oh, give me hack my heart. 

Give me hack my walking- gear. 
Give me hack my hreakfast dear. 

Or since that's a vain request. 
Keep it now, and take the rest, 

108 



The Land of Frost and Fire 

'^ Briny Ocean j heaving high. 
Kiss me once and let me die, 

I've an awful goneness now — 
Cold drops plenty on my brow. 

Angry Ocean, rolling by. 
Wash me in, and let me die. 

"Briny Ocean, still thy tide. 

As thou rock' St from side to side. 
How I wish that I were dead! 

Then thou stand' st me on my head! 
Ocean, rock me safe to sleep 

In thy cradle of the deep!" 



109 



IP 
IP 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: y^yQ 2002 

PreservationTechnologiej 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIOf 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



